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First Things First update for Oct. 16 — Courting Better Outcomes

by Community Contributor • October 16, 2018 • Comments Off

News and happenings about First Things First
October 2018

Courting better outcomes for young kids in foster care

As infants continue to be the largest group of children to enter foster care, it’s imperative to address the negative impact of abuse and neglect on these very young children and protect them from further harm. Read about why First Things First supports a Court Teams strategy designed to help improve outcomes for infants, toddlers and their families in the child welfare system.

Early educator selected as finalist for Teacher of the Year

For the first time in two decades, a preschool teacher has been selected as a finalist for the Arizona Teacher of the Year program.

The Arizona Education Foundation (AEF) recently announced Maria Barker, a preschool teacher at Red Mountain Center for Early Education in Mesa Public Schools, as one of this year’s five Ambassadors for Excellence.

Read more about this growing recognition that early learning is an essential part of the education continuum which offers a critical opportunity to “lessen gaps later,” Barker said.

News Round-Up

News about early childhood around Arizona and across the U.S.

Service organizations play important role in supporting early learning
White Mountain Independent, Sept. 28
Sometimes the best way to make a difference in the lives of Arizona’s young kids is to work within organizations that you’re already a part of. That’s been the case for many service organizations throughout Arizona, who have partnered with First Things First to support early childhood health and development, not just for the young children, but for Arizona’s communities, towns and cities.

Pre-K delay
Phoenix Magazine, September 2018
Children develop at different rates and learn in a variety of ways, says Ginger Sandweg, senior director of early learning at First Things First (FTF). In a recent study conducted by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) that examined preschool programs in all 50 states, Arizona was one of nine that met less than half of NIEER’s benchmarks. It fell short in teacher degrees, class size, staff-child ratio and more. Sandweg says the NIEER report looks specifically at publicly funded, center-based programs for 3- to 5-year-olds and doesn’t include private or in-home preschools. FTF, on the other hand, assesses across home, private and center-based programs.

Kindergarten ready
Arizona Parenting Magazine, September 2018
So, whether you’re looking for child care or a preschool, how can families know what a quality early learning setting looks like? First Things First (FTF) can help with some resources to make the search a little easier.

“One of the things that is on the First Things First Quality First website is a quality checklist for families,” said Ginger Sandweg, FTF’s senior director of early learning. “It’s something that you can download and print off and take with you to really look at the different child care programs that you’re interested in.”

5 Simple ways to encourage brain development in your little one
NPR, Oct. 1
Ron Ferguson, an economist at Harvard, has made a career out of studying the achievement gap — the well-documented learning gap that exists between kids of different races and socioeconomic statuses.
But even he was surprised to discover that gap visible with “stark differences” by just age 2, meaning “kids aren’t halfway to kindergarten and they’re already well behind their peers.”

And yet, there’s a whole body of research on how caregivers can encourage brain development before a child starts any formal learning. It’s another example, Ferguson says, of the disconnect between research and practice. So he set out to translate the research into five simple, and free, ways adults can help their little ones.

California hopes to fight preschool expulsions with mental health services
Education Week, Oct. 9
The state of California is taking another step to reduce preschool expulsions by expanding access to mental health consultants. California Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed a bill into law that provides a funding mechanism for mental health consultation services for child-care providers and preschools. Through this new law, the state reimbursement rate per child for low-income children in child-care centers and preschools is increased by 5 percent for each child receiving subsidized tuition in a classroom that utilizes mental health consultation services. So if a classroom has 20 children and 10 of them are subsidized, the program would be reimbursed at a rate of 10.5 children.